Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023

Policy background

2. More than 3,500 people were killed during the Troubles, including over 1,000 members of the security forces. Of those killed, it is estimated that 58% were the responsibility of republican paramilitaries, 30% of loyalist paramilitaries, and 10% of the security forces.1 Many of these cases remain unsolved - as of May 2022, the Police Service of Northern Ireland currently has a caseload of over 900 cases involving nearly 1,200 deaths. During a Northern Ireland Affairs Committee evidence session in September 2020, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said that to go through the current Legacy Investigation Branch caseload, "which is not all the 3,500 deaths, would take over 20 years from a standing start now on the current resource base." 2

Previous attempts to address the Past in Northern Ireland

3. In 2009, The Consultative Group on the Past chaired by Lord Eames and Denis Bradley made 31 proposals.3 The proposals included: an Independent Legacy Commission to tackle securing reconciliation, justice and information; a new Review and Investigation Unit to deal with historical cases; no new public inquiries; a reconciliation forum; an annual day of reflection; and funding to tackle sectarianism. A £12,000 payment to be made to the relatives of the people killed during the Troubles was also proposed. This elicited strong reactions from political parties and wider civil society, and the report was not taken forward.
4. In 2014, the Stormont House Agreement4 on legacy reform was negotiated by the UK and Irish Governments and the Northern Ireland parties. The Stormont House Agreement was, with the exception of the Ulster Unionist Party, supported by all of the major Northern Ireland parties and the Irish Government. It agreed on a number of basic principles including reconciliation, rule of law and a victims’ centred approach and proposed the establishment of several bodies to take this forward.
5. Between May 2018 and October 2018, the Government invited extensive stakeholder feedback on a draft bill5 giving effect to the Stormont House Agreement, as part of a public consultation entitled ‘Addressing the legacy of the past - moving Northern Ireland forward.’ The consultation attracted over 17,000 responses and a summary of the responses6 was published in July 2019.
6. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act builds on the principles and other aspects of the Stormont House Agreement principles, such as a focus on information recovery and memorialising the Troubles. In doing so, it seeks to address practical implementation issues with the Stormont House Agreement which have been identified since the consultation, including managing the operational difficulties of investigating such a high number of complex, historical cases.